The Air Nation is Born
by ayziks
Summary: This story occurs near the end of the graphic novel 'Promise Part 3', filling a gap between Aang and Zuko ending their discussion at the Jasmine Dragon about the Harmony Restoration crisis, and before Aang begins the Air Acolytes. Aang and Katara affectionately discuss the Acolytes and each other. ATLA characters property of Nickelodeon, Promise 3 property of Dark Horse Comics.


**Title: **"The Air Nation is Born"  
**Author:** A6  
**Rating:** T - Kataang  
**Summary:** This story occurs near the end of the Avatar graphic novel Promise Part 3, filling a story gap between Aang and Zuko ending their discussion at the Jasmine Dragon about the Yu Dao/Harmony Restoration crisis, and before Aang begins the Air Acolytes literally on the next page. The story focuses on how and why Aang creates the Air Acolytes as he talks with Katara. One scene – just for pure fluffy moment – concerns Aang discovering he is taller than Katara on the balcony of the Jasmine Dragon on the anniversary of their first real kiss.  
**Author's Notes: **Promise 3 page 74 is pretty telling. Surrounding Aang is a group of 12 Air Acolytes, and it is clear that it is a mix of the Yu Dao and Ba Sing Se Aang Fan Clubs. So I theorized he brought them together at Yu Dao to begin their education. I find the fact that there are 12 acolytes – like the 12 disciples of Bible heritage as an interesting coincidence. ATLA characters and transcribed scripts in this story property of Nickelodeon and Promise 3 property of Gene Kane and Dark Horse Comics.

...

Aang and Zuko sat alone at a table at the Jasmine Dragon while Iroh tended the kitchen happily behind them. After five hours of discussion, the two young men were finally talked out. They concluded that it had been a very productive night of discussions between them, feeling at the end better friends than they'd ever been, both stronger by working successfully through a World crisis, even when they were at odds with each other for awhile. Through discovery of a fascinating spiritual link, they were relatives in a way. It bonded them even further.

They laughed for the first time all night over Iroh's strange new milk-tea with tapioca balls, hugged like brothers as they did at Zuko's coronation, and headed to their rooms for the night.

Aang walked slowly down the hall, thinking about the aftermath of the inspiring new direction the World would go now. He thought sadly about his other friends. While reunited briefly to solve the Harmony Restoration crisis, the Gaang was once again dispersed across the World. Toph went back to teach metal bending school with her students. Taking advantage of Zuko convalescing at Uncle Iroh's, Suki and Sokka took a much desired break together. That meant a lot of closed bedroom doors and a lot of noise.

Aang rolled his eyes and thought, _"Talk about a case of the 'oogies'..."_

More than anything else, Aang was very worried about another breakup of Zuko and Mai, and prayed for both to be reconciled soon.

But only a few steps away, with him by choice, was the one person with whom he had never felt closer, with a future together clearer now than it had ever been. He smiled wistfully, and wondered what she might be dreaming about.

As Aang passed Katara's room, he was surprised to see her light still on, and she was fidgeting nervously on the edge of her bed. She was as pretty as ever, still wearing that green and brown version of her normal slitted half dress-pantsuit that she'd modeled for him at dinner.

She looked at him smiled hopefully, "Did you two work it all out?"

Aang was flattered she would stay awake for him, "Wow, you waited up? That was really nice of you, Katara. And yes, we did."

Katara reflected, "I had to stay up. It was too important not to find out what you boys talked about, Aang. I need to know what I have to do next to support you."

Aang shook his head in amazement, "You are amazing."

She blushed and looked down.

"May I?" and he motioned to the bed.

She flushed deeper, and patted the bed covers. He sat a respectable distance from her, so she edged right up against him, thigh against thigh, and firmly grasped one of his hands with both of hers.

_"I can barely even think when she is this close,_" he mused as she listened intently to every word of his story.

After Aang finished, she praised him, "I am so proud of both of you. It really truly is the dawn of a new age, Aang. You two are exactly the right people to make it happen. And now you know you are related in a way. It makes this even more special."

"I will only have the strength to do it with you by my side, Katara," he observed while he stroked her hair. She leaned into his strokes and closed her eyes happily so he would caress her cheek.

She kissed him on the lips lightly. It tingled, just like it always did.

"Speaking of that, what were we talking about a few days back?" he smirked, knowing full well the subject.

She raised an eyebrow, "I think the term was 'us', Aang."

She ran one hand gently along the side of his face and neck. He started to sweat.

"Wanna go for a walk?" he asked, a little uncomfortable to be so close to Katara in her bedroom.

"I thought you'd never ask," she agreed with a grin.

They headed to the Jasmine Dragon balcony with their arms around each other, and stood under the light of the half-moon.

They sighed together, but Katara spoke first, "You know it's been just over a year since we stood here together. You know how much I look up to you now, Aang."

"Well, Katara, that's really sweet of you. A lot has changed since I've become a fully realized Avatar and I..."

"No really, I mean I actually look _up _to you now," interrupted Katara, gazing above her into his eyes. She smirked, wondering if he would ever 'get it'.

"Oh! I...um...wait! Really? I _am _taller than you now!"

"By a good inch or so," she stated proudly.

"We've been so busy with this crisis over the colonies I never noticed."

He grinned, picked her up by her waist, held her above him, and spun her around on an air cushion. They laughed, knowing all of a sudden their two-year age differences really would mean nothing the rest of their lives.

"Knock it off you two, I can hear you out there," growled a tired, and somewhat envious Zuko.

They suppressed giggles, and apologized, saying simultaneously, "Sorry, Zuko."

Softly he put her back on the tiles, and he whispered, "I think I still remember what to do, taller or not."

They repeated their wonderful, passionate embrace and kiss from a year ago on the very balcony where it all started. This time her 'stupid brother' was not there to interrupt them for a very satisfying long time. And this time, when they broke their kiss, she buried her head into his shoulder and chest as he hugged her after the lingering kiss still burned on their lips. The feel of her beautiful, thick brown hair against his chin and neck was wonderful.

In a muffled whisper, she said, "This is _much_ better with you taller."

"Yeah..." he replied dreamily.

Without letting go, they looked at each other.

"So then, this is about us. What about 'us', Aang? What did you decide in your talk with Roku?"

"That I am right and Roku was wrong. All along. Just like Zuko was right about Yu Dao."

He didn't mention he completely broke relations with Roku.

She asked hopefully, "Which means?"

"We – you and me - can be 'us' and I can _still_ do the best for the World as the Avatar. Both at the same time. Avatar Yangchen was correct when she told me on the Lion Turtle: _'Many great and wise Air Nomads have detached themselves and achieved spiritual enlightenment, but the Avatar can never do it, because your sole duty is to the World. Here is my wisdom for you: selfless duty calls you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs and do whatever it takes to protect the World'._"

Katara had a puzzled look and asked, "But I thought you told me that was all about her telling you to kill Ozai rather than defeat him your way?"

"It was Katara, but I finally realized it was about us too, and the way I must live in this World. I am the Avatar, but I am just as human as anyone else. 'My selfless duty' is that I must live and feel as other people do, by being part of someone else's life who is as precious to me as the World and my people. That would be you, Katara," grinned Aang.

Katara's eyes teared, and she beamed at Aang and teased, "I kinda gathered that."

"We can live your vision, Katara. A vision which I believe with all my heart," he said softly, and supported her chin with his fingertips.

Katara was thrilled. She kissed him again and he returned it enthusiastically. Coming out of it they were breathless. They didn't need to say the words. It was right there in the way they looked at each other, and in the manner in which they held each other closely. While a formal proposal was yet to come, they were promised to each other this night, and they knew it.

"Ahem...are we...umm...finished out here, Aang?" she smirked slyly.

He grinned back, coaxing a cute giggle from Katara each time he lightly kissed different parts of her face, "Not quite. I didn't quite get that last one right. I missed a spot... here... here... and here... and here..."

He gave her goose bumps.

She pulled him close to her again, and kissed him long and tenderly. They parted a considerable time later.

Out of his warm embrace, Katara shivered, "I'm a little chilly out here, Aang. Let's go have some tea. Besides my lips are wearing out."

He rolled his eyes, took her hand, and went to the kitchen. She poured tea as they sat at the same table as Aang and Zuko had, but with an important difference. Katara sat in Aang's lap and encircled his shoulders with her arms. It was a very pleasant surprise to Aang. She'd never done that before. He raised an eyebrow, and she smiled affectionately.

"Like that?" she said demurely.

"Yeah. A lot."

After a few sips of tea in silence just enjoying the closeness, Aang had more to say, "I have come to another decision, Katara. It's about my people."

"Oh?" she asked as she took a drink of the best brewed tea on the planet.

"Well. The dedication of the Yu Dao Aang Fan Club got me thinking. They were so different from the Ba Sing Se club. They did a lot to save people's lives at Yu Dao. They put their lives at risk for me. They created a way of fighting with their staffs that's like real air bending. They even taught me some new moves. They believe in the precepts of the Air Nomads, so much so that they would endure the pain of tattoos. I was far too harsh on condemning them about the Masters' arrows."

"Well, I am very glad the Yu Dao Fan Club has you thinking more logically than the one here in Ba Sing Se," Katara joked.

They both laughed.

"Katara, the Fan Clubs are nice, but that's exactly the point. Neither one got it quite right about the Air Nomads. Who knows how many other fan clubs are out there, each with their own interpretation of what we believed and how things are supposed to be."

He continued, "I need to do something about that. I want to teach them to live like real Air Nomads, even if I can't teach them how to air bend. Even in my childhood, there were some in our culture who were not air benders."

Katara looked surprised, "I never knew that, Aang. How? Who were those people? Everyone still knows that children of air benders are always air benders."

"That's true. But not every Air Nomad was born one. Some were non-benders, even benders of other elements accepted our ways, and we adopted them. They were often called 'acolytes'. They were very few in number but all were very deep spiritually."

"But they all lacked one thing, Katara," and looked very seriously at her.

"What is that, Aang?" she asked.

She was fascinated watching the Aang's maturity grow daily, truly understanding and absorbing all that his previously lives were showing him. He was making his own tough decisions, not running from responsibilities as he had at the beginning. She alone was so lucky to be able to see and share that.

"Family, Katara. _Family_. I know that family and friends are everything in this world to me – and it took Roku challenging me to 'contemplate the World' to figure it out. It took seeing your family so close, despite your mother's loss. It took baby Hope to show me the meaning of family. Roku didn't understand that at all. But Yangchen told me that, and it's taken me over a year to realize what she really said."

Katara shed a tear at this, and he reached for her hand to comfort her as he spoke.

"So, Katara, why can't The Yu Dao and Ba Sing Se Fan Clubs be 'new' acolytes? We know they want to learn – some of them learned faster and better. Why can't we all be a little bit different this time around? Family and spirituality can exist together in one's heart. I am living proof of that now."

They interlaced fingers even tighter and laughed again at how misguided but well-intentioned the Ba Sing Se Club members were.

"What do you want to do, Aang, to make this happen?" Katara inquired as she stroked the back of his head.

He spoke confidently, "We're going to take some of the Ba Sing Se Fan club members – their top six most devout Co-Presidents – and six of the Yu Dao members and we'll all live simply and apart from everyone. I'll teach the twelve back in the colonies, near the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom negotiation encampment. That way I can help everyone. I can teach the acolytes and spiritually guide Zuko's and Kuei's diplomats. If this works, I will teach more and more acolytes."

Katara looked lovingly at Aang as she saw his dream form in his eyes.

Then he swallowed hard, and took her other hand in his.

"Will you go with me to do this?" he asked nervously.

Katara never hesitated, "I've wanted to help you lift the burden you've carried alone for so long. I will go anywhere with you and do anything to help you, Aang. You know where my heart belongs."

He was ecstatic, "That's wonderful! Thank you Katara. That burden will now be lifted in two ways: I won't be alone in my beliefs any more, just like I am not alone in my life anymore."

"I believe as you do now, Aang."

"I know that Katara, and that is so sweet. But I never want you lose your heritage and always keep your ways in your heart, too. You can never forget you are a Master water bender and a healer."

She was always impressed at how thoughtful he was, "I do _so_ love you, Aang."

"And I love you too, Katara."

They were silently reflective into each other's glistening eyes, touching their heads together, while holding hands tightly as she sat snuggled in his lap.

"So when do we start?" she asked expectantly.

"Tomorrow is the Ba Sing Se's Club's weekly meeting, and I have an audience with them. I will send a letter to the Yu Dao club and we'll all meet together in a few days."

"I'll help you write that letter if you want me to."

He squeezed her hand harder and said, "That would be great. You are a much better writer than me. I'd love to see what you put in your journal about this."

"Who says I'm going to share that chapter with you, Aang?"

They chuckled. She leaned and gave Aang a tender little kiss. The teacups were empty and they were exhausted.

Katara's eyes sparkled, and she suggested, "Aang, this has been an amazing night. We need to sleep, but... umm... but I don't want to sleep alone tonight."

Aang blushed deep red, "Wow, Katara, that's a big step and we aren't marr-"

She interrupted, "Of course we aren't, and I meant _just _sleeping together, not 'sleeping together', silly. It's not time for that, yet. Just _hold_ me, Aang. All night. I never want to be separated from you again. Not_ ever_. Don't you feel the same way?"

Aang's head was reeling from her suggestion, "Yes, Katara, more than anything. But... won't people talk?"

"Let them talk. We know better."

So they walked silently hand in hand into her room, they latched the door, doused the candles, snuggled, kissed lightly, and exchanged 'good nights'. It was a wonderfully close feeling having her in his embrace with his arms wrapped around her.

_"What a night this has been," _was Aang's final thought as he drifted off holding the one he loved.

...

The next morning they awoke still nestled together, "Good morning, Katara."

"'Morning Aang. That was nice, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it sure was. And I'd love to just stay here, but we have a busy day."

They parted, got ready for the day, had a delightful breakfast with Zuko and Iroh, and went to the Fan Club meeting together, while Zuko borrowed Appa and went to talk with Kuei deep in the city center.

Aang presented his proposal in detail to the Aang Fan Club. At first they were totally floored. But as he continued, looks of delight and amazement were shared among all the members.

Hei-Won, the spokesman of the many Club Co-Presidents/Co-Founders graciously said, "We'll decide among us which six will go with you, and let you know tomorrow."

"Come ready to travel, and to be gone from home a long time. We depart for Yu Dao on Appa right after lunch tomorrow," he noted.

"On Appa? That would be a dream come true. Thank you Avatar Aang for your amazing offer for us to learn more and really become believers."

The six came packed in the morning and ready for a long journey. It was a bit crowded with everyone in Appa's saddle, so Aang and Katara rode on Appa's neck and head. None of the Fan Club members could stop chattering and asking questions of Aang entire day long flight, but he took all of them in stride with patience and wisdom.

Aside from rolling her eyes a couple of times, Katara realized all this was the first step on an amazing journey for all of them, and probably the first time any of them had been away from home alone for an extended time. She reflected on her own choice two years ago to travel the world with Aang, and had only hesitated for a moment, with Gran Gran's blessings. Neither of the women ever anticipated what a blessing that journey would become.

Poor Zuko was perplexed with all the Air Nomad talk, and so he mostly tried to stay out of the way. Back at Yu Dao, Zuko disembarked and went into the City complex to prepare his people for a new life independent of both the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, before he returned to the Fire Nation Capital.

Six members of the Yu Dao Fan Club and their one and only President Xing Ying met them at the city gates, and greeted Hei-Won and their brethren from the Ba Sing Se Club. Xing led Aang to a clearing on the edge of the former colony which was considered sacred Air Nomad ground by the Yu Dao Club. He learned that several Air Nomads had been buried there by Earth Kingdom sympathizers during the war, despite the threat of death against any who even thought about helping Air Nomads. He knelt and blessed the grounds on which they were buried. There was not a dry eye during the ceremony, and Katara hugged Aang to comfort him.

Over the next couple of days, the leaders of Yu Dao helped provide Aang with the supplies needed for the group of twelve. It was a small down payment on a huge debt of gratitude the city felt toward the Avatar for saving them and charting a new course.

...

Finally the morning came for the new beginning. In the comfort of their own tent, Aang and Katara stretched, kissed, and arose. Katara said excitedly, "This is it, Aang. I can hardly wait. Are you ready?"

"Yes, Katara. With you there to support me, I can do this. They hugged and kissed again, and went forth to greet the dozen combined Fan Club members as they gathered for their first day together. The mood was electric.

After a nice breakfast of fresh fruit and pastries, they assembled under the very tree that was a considered the ancient Air Nomad memorial. Appa wasn't ready to get up from his sleep under the tree in the fresh fall air, and continued to slumber, despite some of the Fan Club members finding several soft places on his fur to listen as Aang gathered the group together. Katara sat behind the group, and smiled approvingly at Aang. Only he could see her, drew confidence from her smile, took a deep breath, and began a new step in history.

He explained, "I have to admit, I'm a little nervous about this. I love my people's culture, and I don't want to see it corrupted. At the same time, it can't just belong to history. Air Nomad culture has to belong to the future, too."

He continued, "According to my friends, many of you led the way to peace on the battlefield, putting your lives at risk for the sake of others. I'm deeply impressed. You already have the hearts of Air Nomads. So I've decided to teach you the ways of the Air Nomads. But you can't just be a Fan Club from now on, you'll be known as the Air Acolytes."

Katara never moved from her place under the tree as he taught, and was excited to hear Aang tell the stories and lessons she knew so well of the Air Nomads. The second day and every day after, she donned the saffron, orange, and brown apparel of an Air Nomad's lifetime mate and spiritual partner – a surprise she'd planned for Aang for some time - which made Aang's heart soar even more as he taught the first dozen Air Acolytes.

They were the first dozen of hundreds of Air Acolytes he taught during his life, who themselves taught hundreds more each. The Air Nation was born.


End file.
